Tag: TechChange Alumni

Treating HIV with antriretroviral treatment (ARV) medication can be very challenging, given how complicated it can be to dispense these pills correctly. Especially in remote clinics throughout the world, it can be difficult for clinicians to distribute ARVs because they require customized mixes of medication based on the specific symptoms of individual patients in order to be effective.

To help clinicians to correctly prescribe antiretrovirals, Dr. Musaed Abrahams, an alumnus of our mHealth – Mobile Phones for Public Health online course, has launched a mobile app for managing antriretroviral treatment (ARV) medication in South Africa.

The Aviro HIV mobile app acts as a virtual mentor for clinicians to easily consult for proper ARV (Anti-retroviral) initiation and treatment during the patient consult. Designed for Android and based on the current South African guidelines, it provides real-time, immediate feedback and guidance for the clinician, so that excellent and reliable care can be delivered to every patient. Following a care checklist, it gives clinical prompts aiming to educate and raise the standard of patient care.

Aviro featured on a national news broadcaster in South Africa

We asked Musaed to tell us more about his new mHealth Android app below.

 1. What personal experiences of yours inspired this app?

I have worked for Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) for over 6 years, training clinicians throughout Southern Africa on the best practices on HIV Care. Through my experience I quickly recognized some of the challenges nurses and clinicians face day to day with changing guidelines and lack of training resources. I also recognized that many nurses were using technology informally, and were conversant with their mobile technology.

My aim was to create an app that can bridge the training and information gap with the already existing technology – particularly with mobile phones.The Aviro HIV app was created with this goal at the forefront. Providing a mobile tool for doctors and nurses, using technology to simplify the initiation and management of patients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), with connectivity providing further referral support for complex patients.

2. What impact did the TechChange mHealth online course you took have on designing and launching this app?

This mHealth online course gave me an overview of different components of mhealth and how they interlink – specifically monitoring and evaluation, communication and decision tree support tools which were my interest. I valued most the practical examples/case studies and insights from the developing world and their implementations of mHealth projects, and challenges that they needed to overcome. Although I was already conversant in human-centered design, the HCD-focused workshop in the course rounded out my knowledge in this area while being engaging and informative.

Aviro

Aviro 

3. What exactly went into creating this Aviro mHealth app?

It was a team effort involving those with both HIV technical expertise as well as mobile development. We collaborated with the best medical expertise on HIV including James Nutall, Graeme Meintjes, and Ashraf Coovadia to design treatment algorithms. We incorporated human design thinking principles when working with African digital artist, Jepchumba to do the user experience (UX) design in collaboration with nurses on the ground in South Africa. Funding was provided with a partnership with MTN Foundation, Aviro’s technology partner. In addition, we partnered with nurse and clinician organizations, the Anova Health Institute and Southern African Clinician Society, for testing implementation of the app.

4. How successful has it been so far? (Any metrics you can share?)

We just launched the app at Social Media Week and Southern African Clinicians Society last week and have had over 300 downloads by South African nurses and doctors. we have interest from the SA National Dept of Health in adopting the app nationwide. Currently, we are working on an iPhone/iOS version of the app and will keep updating the app with new versions as we get more downloads and feedback.

Clinicians testing Aviro

Clinicians test Aviro

Download the app here on the Google Play store

About Musaed Abrahams

Musaed Abrahams

Musaed has worked and trained in Southern Africa as a HIV Training coordinator of MSF (doctors without borders). With over 5 years experience of coordinating HIV courses for nurses and doctors, with trainings in South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe he has developed innovative educational approaches to medical training.

Interested in mHealth to use mobile phones to improve healthcare delivery? Enroll now in the same course that Musaed took, mHealth – Mobile Phones for Public Health which runs from November 17 – December 12, 2014.

 

At TechChange, we’re always looking for ways to make online learning more interactive, engaging, and relevant for busy, global professionals interested in technology and social change. One way we do this is by bringing together our online TechChange community offline with hybrid learning. Specifically, we try to overlap the schedule of some of our online courses with industry events such as the recent M&E Tech Conference and annual mHealth Summit. We also arrange in-person meet-ups in various cities across the world including happy hours in Washington, DC and other meet-ups including most recently in Lusaka, Zambia.

Last month, we launched our very first round of TC111: Technology for Monitoring & Evaluation with a class of over 100 participants. As one of the top guest experts of the online course, Christopher Robert, who is CEO of Dobility Inc. and a Harvard adjunct lecturer, joined us in the first week of the course while he was traveling in Zambia. To take full advantage of the course, some of our participants based in Zambia asked him if he would be willing to meet with them in Lusaka. So, three of these M&E tech course participants (Ladislas, William, and Mine) met Christopher and his colleagues on the same day to continue the technology for M&E discussions from the online course in-person.

Here’s what happened at the TechChange Tech for M&E meet-up in Lusaka:

Reuniting alumni from different communities
It turned out that Ladislas, William, and Mine had already known each other as alumni of the Global Health Corps (GHC) fellowship. According to Mine Metitiri, a Senior Research Associate at the Zambia Ministry of Health, “A number of Global Health Corps fellows are taking the TechChange Tech for M&E online class and we recommended Chris to be a speaker at our annual training at Yale. Hopefully it works out because he had a lot of great things to say that are relevant to our fields of work.“

Strengthening online connections and learning offline
TechChange alumni such as William Ngosa who works at the Ministry of Health in Zambia appreciated the chance to reunite with his GHC colleagues and to meet Christopher and his team members, Faizan and Meletis. “It was a privilege to meet one of the speakers in the online course to provide a meaningful and enriching learning experience,” said William.
Christopher Robert and his team really enjoyed meeting the Zambia-based course participants as well. “It was lucky that we had the chance to meet!” said Christopher. “These Tech for M&E course participants are doing some wonderful things with ICT for social good there in Zambia. It’s always inspiring to meet people doing good work!”

Sharing good news of a job offer for M&E consulting
One of the participants, Ladislas Hibusu, received a M&E consultant job offer after interviewing with Jhpiego while taking the M&E online course.

“At this M&E meetup in Lusaka, I mentioned that during the M&E course, I interviewed for a position at Jhpiego. I am happy to announce that I have been offered an M&E Consultant role and thanks to the valuable insights to this course, as I was able to apply the knowledge I learned in the course. Although I have had limited experience in applying much of my M&E theoretical work in the field, I am happy to say this Tech for M&E online course is addressing most of challenges that I anticipate in my new role.” – Ladislas Hibusu

Everyone congratulated Ladislas and Christopher Robert joined us for another live event the following week wanting to continue the discussions with other participants in our course.

Several of TechChange’s online courses are designed to facilitate interactions like the one in Lusaka. Participants from all over the world are able to connect with like-minded professionals in the international development sector and continue discussions on specific topics. Watching live and recorded videos, completing different activities, and participating in ongoing discussions on an online forum combined with offline, in-person learning is really what enriches e-learning.

Interested in technology for M&E and want to connect with other M&E practitioners across the world? Register now to lock in early bird rates for our next round of our Technology for Monitoring & Evaluation online course which runs January 29 – February 20, 2015.